Megadealer Rick Case understands the drawing power of a long new-vehicle warranty.
The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., retailer prodded Hyundai Motor America executives to adopt the 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty that helped goose the company's sales in 1999.
More recently, Case doubled that warranty to 20 years/200,000 miles at his six Hyundai dealerships and three Mitsubishi stores.
Although some dealers see such a long warranty as overkill, Case says it gives him a competitive edge. He thinks the coverage has an especially strong appeal in a prolonged economic downturn when consumers are keeping their vehicles longer.
Case promotes the warranties in all his advertising. "I think people like the feeling that they are going to keep a car longer," Case says. "Many of the people who traded during the cash-for-clunkers program had bought new vehicles and kept them 10 to 12 years."